Blogmas Day 21: 5 Facts about Christmas

Today I have had a crazy day off full of last minute shopping and wrapping. I am exhausted but I want to get it all done so that I can enjoy a lazy day on Saturday, my last day off before Christmas Day!

This week I’ve seen a lot of fun facts about Christmas so today I thought I’d share some of them with you…

Celebrating Christmas was illegal in the UK for a while

In the late 16th and early 17th century, many people began to frown upon the celebration of Christmas as a time of gluttony and waste. The Long Parliament wanted Christmas to instead be a time of fasting and thinking about the Lord. During the 1650s parliamentary legislation was passed and there were penalties for anyone found to be celebrating at Christmas time.

Early Romans celebrated the solstice with a feast called the Saturnalia in honour of the god of agriculture, Saturn. The solstice was a sign that meant the farms and orchards would soon be green and fruitful. As part of the occasion, people would decorate their homes and temples with evergreen boughs. In Northern Europe, the Druids believed these boughs were a symbol of everlasting life.

Santa was portrayed in many different ways and wearing many different colours. When Coca-Cola began using him in their adverts from the 1930s people began to recognise Santa as the jolly, rosy-cheeked man with a long white beard.

A copywriter named Robert L. May first invented Rudolph in 1939 for Montgomery Ward’s holiday colouring books. May’s employers were worried about the connotations of the reindeer’s red nose as it was viewed as a sign of sign of alcoholism however after seeing sketches of the reindeer the employers agreed it would be okay.

Santa Claus came from St. Nicholas, a Christian bishop living in the fourth century AD. St. Nicholas lost both of his parents early on in his life and chose to use his inheritance to help the poor. He was known for helping people in times of need including helping families whose children would have to be sold into slavery and saving people from wrongful imprisonment.